Asiana Airlines Flight 235
Asiana Airlines Flight 235 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to Seoul's Incheon International Airport. In the evening of June 20, 2020, the Boeing 777-200ER aircraft crashed just seconds after takeoff from O'Hare International Airport. Of the 298 on board, 167 were killed, and 129 of the 138 survivors were injured, 87 critically. Flight 235 was the deadliest aviation incident in the United States since American Airlines Flight 587, which crashed on November 12, 2001, killing all 260 people on board. Crash On 20 June, 2020, Flight OZ235 was cleared for push back from terminal 1 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) at 11:56 p.m (CDT). 31 minutes later, at 12:27 a.m. (CDT), OZ235 was cleared for takeoff from runway 10L. At this time, the latest weather scan reported a 5kt wind from the WNW with an 8 mile visibility range. At 12:28 a.m., OZ235 began its takeoff roll, with a speed of 180kts needed for takeoff. Unexpectedly, the aircraft only slowly began to gain speed. After reaching the halfway mark on the runway and only being at 100kts, the pilots tried to abort takeoff by pulling the throttle down and applying speed brakes. However, the aircraft did not respond to the commands and continued moving forward. The pilots quickly found that the only commands the aircraft responded to was the yoke, which was the manual tool for changing the direction and pitch of the plane. With just under 400 feet of runway left and only being at 170kts, the pilots pointed the nose of the aircraft upwards, causing a tail-strike. Due to the aircraft being 10kts less than the required takeoff speed, OZ235 reached a maximum altitude of 40 feet before stalling. The pilots tried to make a sharp turn to the right in order to land back on runway 28C, but the aircraft was falling too quickly. At 12:30 a.m., OZ235's tail section impacted a parking garage just outside of the airport limits, and snapped off, along with he last 5 rows in the aircraft. This impacted caused the aircraft to sharply bank to the right, causing the right section of the fuselage to be dragged across the top of parking garage, causing the right engine of the aircraft to explode, causing significant damage to the right side of the aircraft. Additionally, the drag caused by the aircraft going across the roof of the parking garage resulted in the aircraft's speed being reduced to 70kts. At 12:31 a.m., OZ235 flew off ff the roof of the parking garage, and impacted the Tri-State Tollway as well as a cafe on the side of the road, with the right-side of the nose impacting the ground. However, due to the reduced speed of the aircraft, the left-side of the middle of the fuselage remained relatively intact. Within seconds of the crash, survivors that were still conscious after the impact began to crawl from the intact section of the fuselage. At 12:32 a.m., a fire caused by the explosion at the parking garage had consumed most of the parking garage, and ignited a trail jet fuel that led to the wreckage of the aircraft, starting a large fire in the crushed front section of the plane. At 12:33 a.m., all flights from O'Hare International Airport were grounded, and all flights heading to the airport were diverted to the nearby smaller Midway International Airport or other airports in the general area, mainly Milwaukee International Airport and the Rockford International Airport. By 12:36 a.m., ambulances and fire trucks were on the scene, as well as local residents who had been awaken by the crash. By 12:55 a.m., the fire had been put out and all of the survivors had been evacuated from the wreckage. It is believed that there may have been up to 189 initial survivors, but several people in the front and right sides of the plane were found to have died from burns, indicating that they survived the crash but were killed by the fire. Cause In the afternoon of June 20, the NTSB recovered the black box. By July 1, it was concluded that none of the 3 aircrew had deliberately crashed the plane, and that no-one had hijacked the plane. Additionally, communications between OZ235 and the air traffic controller were normal up to the point of takeoff, when the pilots reported the plane not being able to gain enough speed. The last message was: "OZ235, we are not going to reach 180kts." After this message was sent, the air traffic controller tried to get a hold of OZ235, but got no response, and watched the plane crash through the air traffic control tower window. The aircraft involved, HL8254, was an 8 year old Boeing 777-200(ER), with the first recorded flight being on June 22, 2012. The only previous incident was just 4 days earlier, when one of the engines was damaged during a very rough landing at Incheon International Airport. In the incident, the left engine's turbine had been shaken loose, but required a simple fix. The engine went into repair and was finished 2 days later, having been given the all-clear for use. However, the mechanic failed to properly put re-attach the turbine, causing the turbine be slightly loose. After the aircraft had landed in O'Hare International Airport in the afternoon of June 19, the turbine had once again been knocked out of place. This time, however, the turbine was overlooked, and therefore the aircraft went on as normal for it's scheduled flight from Chicago to Seoul. However, when the plane attempted to takeoff, the damaged turbine caused the engine fan to spin slower, causing the lack of speed. After the plane had pitched upwards, the turbine was shaken completely loose, severing the hydraulics tube, which was the reason for the aircraft not responding to anything but the yoke. On July 25, the NTSB had officially deemed the crash to have been caused by insufficient maintenance leading to a stall upon takeoff. Crew and Passengers Crew The aircrew on the aircraft consisted of 2 captains and 1 first officer. 47 year-old captain Hyong Jin-Young in the left seat (captain's position) had 11,935 hours of flight times, including 3,526 hours on a 777. 53 year-old captain Mo Jae-Wook was in the right seat (copilot's position) and over 17,000 flight hours, but only 1,120 were on a 777. First-officer Ryu Yeong-Sik had 7,000 flight hours, and 2,536 of those were on a Boeing 777. All 3 aircrew were South Korean natives, and all 3 were killed in the crash. There were 13 flight attendants on board, of which 9 were South Korean, 2 were Chinese, and 2 were Japanese. Of the 13 flight attendants, only 1 survived. The 1 surviving crew member was 24 year-old Japan native Nishimura Itsuko was seated in between economy zones A and B, and survived with a few minor injuries. Passengers There were 282 passengers on board Flight 235 at the time of the crash, of which only 137 survived. Most of the fatalities that occurred were either from the tail section that was crushed and broke off upon hitting the parking garage, the right side of the plane that was dragged across the parking garage roof and damaged by the explosion, or the front section of the plane that was crushed upon impact. The NTSB investigators said that the death toll could have been much higher if the plane had not banked to the right. Had it not banked to the right, the plane would have had the bottom of its fuselage dragged across the parking garage roof, causing the plane to belly-flop onto the ground, resulting in the entire plane exploding. Additionally, had the plane seats been a less-expensive variant, they would have likely been snapped off of the cabin floor due to the brute force of the impact, resulting in a much higher death tool (seen in Avianca Flight 52). The passengers were mainly of South Korean nationality, with the second highest nationality being American. There was a group of high-school students and teachers that attended the William Howard Taft High School in Jefferson Park that were going to Seoul for an extra-curricular school trip, part of their international culture study elective class. The group consisted of 39 year-old teacher Michelle Van Dan and 42 year-old teacher Daren Van Dan, and 21 high school students ranging from 16 to 18 years of age. Unfortunately, Michelle, Daren, and 19 of the 21 students were killed in the crash. The group had filled up rows 39 and 40, as well as seats H, J, and K in row 38. These rows were in the tail section of the aircraft, which was broken off and crushed upon impact with the parking garage. The 2 students that had survived were 17 year-old junior Damien Trencher and 16 year-old sophomore Jennifer Hayes. Both Damien and Jennifer were in critical condition, having been ejected from the tail after their seats had been separated from the rest of the tail section. Damien spent 2 months in the hospital, while Jennifer wasn't released until October of the same year. 66 year-old French native Jacqueline Torres was seated in seat K of row 18, located on the right side of the cabin, and was ejected from the aircraft after the right engine exploded, causing her to fall off the roof of the parking garage; a 5 story drop. Amazingly, she survived with several broken ribs, a fractured spine, and severe burns. 2 month old Juan Rodriguez of Toronto, Canada was in the same seat as his mother, Julia Rodriguez, when the plane crashed. Julia was killed when her seat made a 180 degree turn, snapping her spine, but Juan, who was not strapped in but being held by his mother, survived with only minor burns from the right engine exploding. Aftermath Immediately after the crash, Asiana Airlines CEO Yoon Young-doo sent out a statement that the crash was likely due to mechanical issues with the plane involving the incident a few days prior, and that his crew and pilots were "high experienced with no blemishes on their records." All flights out of O'Hare were temporarily grounded, with flights being resumed 3 hours after the crash. Following the investigation of the cause of the crash. the mechanic who had worked on the damaged engine, 53 year-old Lee Jung-Sun was fired and charged with 138 charges of second-degree manslaughter due to negligence of his work. Flight routes 235 and 236 were subsequently retired and replaced with 233 and 234. By September of 2024, all 8 remaining 777-200(ER) aircraft in Asiana's fleet had been retired and replaced with Airbus' A350-1000 aircraft. Category:Hypothetical Plane Crashes Category:Hypothetical Disasters Category:Events in the 2020s